Please Note: Entry is always through an open access point and not by force our way in….. We are explorers not vandals.

History
Not really any history on this place other than it was an all girls school. I have been looking all over for more information but nothing!

If anyone reading this report has any information on Lycee V please by all means leave a comment below it would be greatly appreciated.

My Visit
Lycee V was one the of the locations I had really been looking forward to seeing on this tour. Now, don’t get me wrong all of the sites we had planned to visit I was looking forward to but Lycee V was one of the more appealing to me.

When we first arrived at the location it was still dark which was planned to try and make it a little easier getting in without being spotted. Unfortunately a couple of locals were stood on the street corner talking which stopped us trying to enter. We waited for 10 minutes but they were still happily talking so we decided to not waste time and visit a different location before returning to see if they had moved on.

Fast forward about 2 hours and we were back but this time in full daylight, however, the locals had moved on so we started the task of trying to figure out the way in. Whilst we was doing this a car passed by and then did a U-Turn and parked up across the street. Out of the car appeared two gentlemen who turned out to be explorers as well. We spoke with them for a while but they decided to leave us to it and return another time. Anyway, to cut a long story short the entry took us a little longer than expected.

None the less it made for a few giggles and funny looks that if translated into words would probably say ‘you want me to climb what’, ‘drop down that’ and ‘are you f*****g mad’ You get the idea….

Finally we were in…..

Please note, you can click any image for a larger view.

After a brief walk through a couple of dark rooms this is the sight that greeted us and definitely said ‘unpack the camera gear’.

I instantly knew from that moment I was going to really enjoy what this location had to offer.

All members of the group waited for everyone to get a shot and then we split up. We all went in different directions trying to avoid making cameo appearances in each others photos. Lots of ‘is it clear to come out’, ‘anyone taking a photo in this room’, etc etc ensued.

So anyway, I headed off down the left hand side to have a look what I could find. It soon became very clear that this side had been stripped and was bare, nothing was screaming at me to take a picture. I was just hoping that this was not the same for the rest of the building. I am sure that these rooms would have been class rooms but I can only say that as I know it was a school.

After walking the left hand side I paused and asked if it was clear but I did not get a reply so I stepped out into the main hall right in front of the stairs. I could not see any of the lads so I set up the tripod to grab a photo of the stairs whilst I had the area to myself.

After taking a photo of the stairs I still had the ground floor to myself so I decided to use this to my advantage and grab a couple more images.

So with the ground floor covered other than the right hand class rooms which I decided to come back to later I headed up the stairs to see what / if anything was left to photograph unlike the rooms I checked out of the ground floor.

First things first…. Hello, anyone taking a photo at the top of the stairs? Yep give me a sec one of the lads shouts so I wait….. 30 seconds later I get the all clear to walk up.

The first image I took on the upper level was looking back across the main hall.

So it was time to go and see if the rooms on this level were the same as the rooms below……

To my relief the rooms were not stripped to the same extent as downstairs. The rooms were relatively empty but they still have a few features and marks to show where things would have been.

This photo shows raised platforms in the style of a lecture hall. I took this photo from the area where the teacher would have stood.

The next room was of a similar size to the last one but without the raised platform. There are a few rooms like this one all with the same layout. Now, is it me or does that whiteboard / projection screen look a little small for the room?

One thing I was starting to like about this place was the colours of the rooms. The nice airy yellow made the rooms nice and bright which was much better than the class rooms I remember when I was at school… good old plain white!

The last room on this side was a little smaller than most and not in the best condition. You can see where the blackboard would have been, now it's a little weird that this room is smaller but has a much bigger board. Anyway, the boots on the stool I hear you say…. No idea, that is how I found them when I walked in, I do not believe any of the group did this so it must have been set up by a previous group of explorers.

So with the rooms covered on this side I popped back out to the main hall after a quick shout of ‘anyone taking a photo’.......

Before heading to the rooms on the other side I quickly snapped this photo.

Now on this side the rooms looked like they have been knocked through to make them bigger, whether this was before or after the school was closed I do not know. Also as you will see in the first image there is an old foam mattress and cover possibly used by a homeless visitor.

So with most rooms looking similar I decided to snap a few images of doors and features, before it was time for us to move on.

Just before heading back down to the ground floor I took two more images of the main hall from the top level.

As I got back down stairs it looked like the lads were finishing up and getting ready to go. I took a quick look around the rooms I decided to leave till last a little earlier and I think I made a good call. They were just like the stripped rooms on the left plus they were pitch black due to the boards on the windows.

And that was that, time to go. We all started to pack up our gear feeling very happy with the images we had taken. It was time to make our exit and leave this amazing location behind.

More images available on flickr
The images above are just a small selection of the images I have edited. I will be adding lots more photos of Lycee V on my Flickr page which can be found here, https://www.flickr.com/photos/119757413@N07/

Final thoughts
Lycee V for me was a breath of fresh air, I had been looking forward to this one and I was not disappointed. Lovely features and architecture plus plenty of light streaming in through the main hall roof and windows which made taking the photos a lot easier than normal.

If you have this location on your list and are wondering if you should visit here then let me answer that one for you… Yes, put this one up towards the top.